Juniper
by RiverdalesUnicorn
Summary: Ever since Blackhood was revealed to be janitor Mr. Svensson, things slowly went back to how they used to be, without people forgetting about the dark past that now hopefully lay behind the small town. Little did they know; the evil was just around the corner with the Bentley's arrival in Riverdale;But how could a girl as innocent as Juniper Bentley possibly be involved in a crime?


Chapter One

Encounters

Over night Riverdale's first snow this year had fallen down onto its ground, almost seeming like a soft blanket trying to cover up the towns dirty past, as a young girl covered in a big parka and boots made her way to the Riverdale High, not knowing what her first day would bring.

That girl, Juniper Bentley, would now officially be a citizen of Riverdale, the town with pep and a dark past. Ever since Blackhood was revealed to be janitor Mr. Svensson, things slowly went back to how they used to be, without people forgetting about the dark past that now hopefully lay behind the small town. Little did they know; the evil was just around the corner with the Bentley's arrival in Riverdale. But how could a girl as innocent as Juniper Bentley possibly be involved in a crime?

Maybe it was just the town that was cursed to attract the evil.

Juniper POV

I slowly passed all the crowded bike stands and walked over to the entry doors of the school, looking around for the girl that was supposed to be Betty Cooper. My heart beat fast; I was nervous, so incredibly nervous having to be here, thousands of miles away from my home in another country, another continent even. I wished I was back in my small home town in southern England, where everything was familiar and I knew all of the faces at my tiny high school. This one seemed to be huge, enormous to be exact, and the people were different; they looked worried, _they don't smile at all_ I thought. At least so far, and that was probably due to me not seeing things in a very positive light this morning.

My eyes observed the many new faces that looked at me, until finally I saw one that smiled at me. It belonged to a girl that I was certain was Betty Cooper, because now she walked towards me and waved her hand, still smiling.

"Hey, I'm Betty. You must be Juniper Bentley" She said, her green eyes shining, matching her navy coat. She was almost as tall as me, and she wore her blonde hair up in a perfect ponytail. _Wish I could pull that off _I thought.

"Nice to meet you" I answered and smiled back. "It's so kind of you to show me around, I'm pretty nervous to be honest"

"You're welcome. By the way, I love your name!"

"Ah - really? I don't like it at all" I cringed. "I'd prefer you calling me June, that's what I usually go with"

"Alright then June" She laughed. "This must be such a big change for you" She meant as we walked down the hallway.

"The weather certainly isn't very different" I meant and looked around.

My hands were shaking and my legs felt like they'd fall off any second because of my nervousness. Betty chuckled and stopped in front of a locker. "This is yours now, the closest free one to mine - over there" She gestured a few feet to the left. "And we're in almost all the same classes" I let out a relieved sigh. "Thank god" I whispered to myself. Betty smiled at me kindly and put a hand on my shoulder. "There's nothing you need to worry about, you can ask me anything and I'm sure you'll quickly fit in here. It might be all new and scary, but that will quickly fade" She must've been able to read my soul and literally see my heart _scream_ anxiety out loud.

"I will introduce you to my friends as soon as we see them" She added with the smile on her lips I hadn't seen fade once since I met her. "You'll like them"

"You're incredibly kind, Betty" I meant and smiled back at her.

"You're welcome, June" She looked behind me and I turned around to see who she was looking at. A guy with reddish hair in a varsity jacket approached us and even though I usually wouldn't look after redheads, I had to admit this boy was pretty handsome.

"June, this is Archie. Archie, June" Betty introduced us to each other and we locked eyes for a second.

"Ah, I see; the new one from Britain with the fancy name? Juniper" He grinned. He stared at me, which made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Rather absurd I guess" I mumbled and tried to force a smile at him. He laughed. "Love that accent" I might have blushed just a little bit.

"Archie, can you show her where to go for biology class?" Betty then turned to me. "That's the only class I'm not in with you together, sadly" If anyone would have used the word sadly at the end of this sentence in this situation, I would have _never_ believed them. However, there was something so real and down to earth to Betty Cooper that made me take everything she said for real and one hundred percent honest.

"Sure" He answered just as the bell rang. "See you guys later!" Betty waved at us with another smile and went down the hallway the different direction.

"Biology is very chill" Archie meant as I followed him to the first class. "But if you need help with keeping up, you can have all my notes and stuff. I'm not _that_ bad at biology" He laughed and I thanked him. I was more than thankful to already have two people I could talk to at this school.

First period really wasn't that bad since Mr. Porter, the teacher, was very kind and offered me help if I needed anything. The other students seemed okay, they just stared at me like you would usually stare at someone new and I tried to ignore it as best as I could. But there was this one girl to my left who stared at me like no other. She wasn't just staring at me; she seemed to be staring right through my soul.

As the bell finally rang I quickly grabbed my stuff and stood up, only to directly bump into her, my stuff falling everywhere. "I'm sorry" I said in a weak voice. Situations like these made my anxiety go through the roof, even though in my head I told myself to just _calm the f*** down_. I quickly gathered all my things without looking at her, but then she handed me my pencil case over, a smile spreading on her full red lips. She flicked her long red curls over her shoulder. "It was my fault" She meant, her voice sounding strong and almost bossy compared to mine. "I'm Cheryl by the way, nice to meet you" I put my backpack over my shoulder and smiled at her. She was one of the prettiest girls I had ever met, and she seemed so confident that it made me feel insecure to just talk to her. "Thanks, nice to meet you too" I meant and in that exact moment, she had already turned around and went out of the room. Archie stood in the doorframe and just looked at me.

"Was that just Cheryl Blossom being _nice_ to you?" He asked, obviously surprised. I shrugged as I approached him. "She's a bitch to basically everyone" He meant.

"I can kind of imagine that very well" I let out a small laugh and looked at him. He raised his brows.

"She's usually fake-friendly but trust me, those few words weren't fake" He smirked and I chuckled as he went on with "She probably laid an eye on you" I just laughed and rolled my eyes as we headed down the hallway together to go see Betty.

Betty POV

I could already spot Jughead's beanie peaking from behind his laptop as I went to Pop's later that afternoon. I went over and sat across from him on the table, waiting for him to notice me. After he didn't move for a minute, I cleared my throat. He jumped a bit but then laughed; he must have been really deep into whatever he was currently writing on.

"Betty Cooper, don't scare me like that" He said and his lips formed into a slight smile while his blue eyes locked with mine. I leaned over the table and gave him a kiss on the lips. His smile got wider and he closed his laptop.

"Wasn't today the first school day for that new girl you're supposed to show around a bit?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yes, I invited her to come here to meet with us. She's a really sweet girl, but super shy so I just really want to make this whole thing easier for her by integrating her."

Jug smiled. "You're such a good person Betty"

I flushed and a second later Ronny let herself drop next to Jug on the bench.

"My favourite two love-birds" She grinned and flashed me a smile. "I thought I was late but seems like Archiekins isn't here yet either" Her smile faded and her lips turned into a small line as her eyes suddenly stared at the entrance door. I followed her glance to see Archie holding the door open for Juniper, both laughing at something they must have talked about.

"Hey guys" Archie said as he sat down next to Ronnie and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "We just found out the new employee at Andrews Constructions my Dad hired is June's Dad" June waved at all of us as she sat next to me, her lips formed into a wide smile.

"How cool is that? And nice to see you June, I'm glad you came" I smiled at her. "This is Veronica, and this is Jughead" I introduced them to her since they didn't meet earlier. Both of them smiled at June and said hi.

"Thanks for inviting me to join you guys; it means a lot to mean since I'm not the kind of person who easily makes new friends to be honest" Her smile was a little crooked which together with her huge eyes made her look really cute. She tucked a few lose strands behind her ears and just sat there smiling at us. Something about her just seemed so familiar and heartwarming to me, as if I'd known her for quite some time already.

"You're welcome" I said and my friends all agreed. We ordered our usual milkshakes and told June which tasted the best and which ones she definitely had to try.

"Where are you from exactly, June?" Jug asked after a while of just chatting about school stuff. She put her milkshake on the table and started talking.

"I'm from a really small town called Silverbeech, in the very south of Britain. There's really not much civilization there, Riverdale is so much bigger"

"Hard to imagine" Jug laughed.

"But how come you moved here, so far away from your hometown?" Ronnie asked and I remembered having asked her this question earlier today already.

"This is the place my Mum was born and raised at; she always talked about how much she loved Riverdale and wanted to go back one day" June explained in the exact same words she did to me earlier, than shrugged and took another sip of her milkshake. "I totally see why this is your favourite meeting place, this tastes like heaven" She meant and smiled.


End file.
